I was able to get really good deal on a Netbook through a Black Friday sale at Newegg. $190 total including shipping. This has the larger 6 cell battery, but I will be using the AC adapter most of the time anyhow. Now, any deals on the Silverleaf VMSpc?

I was able to get really good deal on a Netbook through a Black Friday sale at Newegg. $190 total including shipping. This has the larger 6 cell battery, but I will be using the AC adapter most of the time anyhow. Now, any deals on the Silverleaf VMSpc?

Call Jim and see if he's having a Black Friday Blow out opps Sale (since blow out and bus should not be used in the same sentence! ) BK

I am a little upset with myself. I was looking Friday morning for a 15" LCD monitor on Craigslist to display my future VMSpc on.

Later in the day Friday I had to help with cleaning out old electronics at work again. I realized I had thrown a working 15" LCD monitor in the recyling dumpster earlier in the week. I pulled it out, but it was wrecked with a large scratch. I could have had a free monitor!

I was able to get really good deal on a Netbook through a Black Friday sale at Newegg. ...

If your plan is to mount a whole netbook (or any other general-purpose computer, complete with keyboard or mouse) near the driver area, make sure you either stay out of California, or have the machine disconnected and out of reach of the driver and co-pilot when you enter the state...

For anyone who has just a screen mounted in the driver area, with the controls elsewhere, I strongly recommend maximizing the VMS window (or filling the whole display with a split screen of VMS and your favorite map display, as Jim does), then "hiding" the Windows task bar so that it is not obvious the display is connected to a general purpose computer.

Outside of "authorized emergency vehicles" including law enforcement and fire apparatus, it is illegal to have a computer display anywhere in view of the driver or accessible either to the driver or front seat passengers anywhere in the state. I suspect this may be true in a handful of other jurisdictions as well, but I am only positive about CA.

There is no exemption for mapping or engine management applications, unless they are on a dedicated device like a GPS or engine monitor (and not merely a window on a general-purpose computer).

I'm planning to put the netbook on a sliding tray that goes into the dash so the Netbook is out of sight. The only time it should have to come out is to power on or power off. The display will be on an external monitor of some sort.

No plans to ever go to California unless I someday move out west. Just too far to drive from Minnesota for the kind of trips I do.

How does the Silverleaf connect to the engine computer? Is it the diagnostic plug up front? Does it come with the connectors?

Yes, it connects to the diagnostics plug. The software is "free" (Not really). You are paying for the little box that interfaces between the diagnostics port and the PC.

A new version of VMSpc just came out this fall that uses USB to connect to the computer. The original version was serial port based. Silverleaf is selling recertified versions of the old serial based units with warranty, but the trick is they have to have people who trade in old units for the new ones. I decided to just do the USB based one for full price since who knows if the recertified ones would ever be available.

John, Brian gave you a good answer. I have not found a motorhome that did not have a data port in front. However, the Freighliner chassis folks really go out of their way to hide them . I believe that all buses with electronic engines have the data port in front with somewhat easy access, so that engine problems could be observed with a ProLink while the bus was driven.

If you have a DDEC III or later engine, it will have a round plug with either a 6 pin or 9 pin configuration. I will need to know which you have (most probably it will be a 6 pin). If you have a DDEC II it will have a rectangular 12 pin connector and you will need to make an adapter (not hard). If you have a World transmission, the SilverLeaf will give you some information (temp and gear selected/attained) if it is prior to 2002. If it is later than 2002 I have a workaround that I think will get you the same data.

I figured it hooked into that port. Only problem is, I gotta troubleshoot our port, that is up front, because it doesn't work. That shouldn't be too hard though. I just need a little free time, which comes in precious little around here . Say, maybe you have some, you could send me

We have the Allison B500 tranny (around the late 90's, but I would have to double check). We also have the round plug, but I will have to check how many pins.

Hi John, I am in the process of moving my website to a new host and had to take the e-store down for a while. Also, I did not have a way in the e-store to do discounts. Give me a call three zero three 478 3501 and we can get your order going when you are ready.

To troubleshoot the data port, you will need to check four wires. The power connections are at "C" (positive) and "E" (negative). Some ports have power wires that are hot all the time and some are on the ignition switch. The two data wires are on terminals "A" and "B". With the ignition on (ECM powered on) you should have about 3-5 volts from "A" to "E" and about .3 to .5 volts from "B" to "E". Those voltages are ball park. You will probably see the voltages fluctuate a bit when you are taking the readings - this is normal.